When Nazi Germany launched an invasion against France and forced a surrender in just six weeks, the initial reaction was devastation and shock. A collection of underground networks and movements, later known as the French Resistance, soon emerged to counter the Nazi regime. In this course, we will examine the ways in which French society responded to the German occupation. How did people decide whether to resist or collaborate? We will explore the various elements of resistance, such as the clandestine press, espionage, sabotage, intelligence, and guerrilla warfare. At the same time, we will consider the role that women played in the Resistance. Why did women decide to join the Resistance? To what extent did the participation of women in the Resistance attenuate gender inequalities in French society? Topics include, but are not limited to, the reasons behind the initial French defeat; the various parties vying for power in France; the various underground networks of the Resistance; and the social and political legacy of the Resistance.

In 1768, a tremor of unease ripped through the Yangtze River Delta. Rumors of nefarious soul-stealing sorcerers roaming through the land petrified local villagers and greatly alarmed the Qing emperor. Although previous studies have often focused on witchcraft trials in Europe and the Americas, this seminar examines witchcraft from a cross-cultural perspective. Although the defendants in European and American witchcraft trials were usually women, women in Qing China largely escaped the fates of their European and American counterparts. Why were soul-stealing accusations mainly leveraged against men? What did the communal and imperial responses to the 1768 soul-stealing incident reveal about notions of gender and law in Qing China? How does the 1768 soul-stealing incident improve current understandings of corruption in late imperial China? Topics include, but are not limited to, the social, political, and economic conditions prior to the 1768 soul-stealing incident; the various responses to the incident; the categories of people who were most vulnerable to soul-stealing accusations; and an analysis of the internal contradictions in the Great Qing Code, the legal code of Qing China.

When Nazi Germany launched an invasion against France and forced a surrender in just six weeks, the initial reaction was devastation and shock. A collection of underground networks and movements, later known as the French Resistance, soon emerged to counter the Nazi regime. In this course, we will examine the ways in which French society responded to the German occupation. How did people decide whether to resist or collaborate? We will explore the various elements of resistance, such as the clandestine press, espionage, sabotage, intelligence, and guerrilla warfare. At the same time, we will consider the role that women played in the Resistance. Why did women decide to join the Resistance? To what extent did the participation of women in the Resistance attenuate gender inequalities in French society? Topics include, but are not limited to, the reasons behind the initial French defeat; the various parties vying for power in France; the various underground networks of the Resistance; and the social and political legacy of the Resistance.